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Friday, September 30, 2016

REGINA THUNDER VS SASKATOON HILLTOPS GAME PREVIEW

The Regina Thunder (3-3) look to snap a two game slide when they host the Saskatoon Hilltops (5-1) on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium. The Thunder have been off since September 17th when they lost in Medicine Hat to the Calgary Colts 15-12. The Hilltops beat the Okanagan Sun in an interleague game on the 17th, 58-2. Saskatoon won the first meeting of the season with Regina on September 10th, 20-18. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Saturday.

THUNDER OFFENCE - Regina has scored 163 points in their first six games, 4th best in the PFC. QB Sawyer Buettner leads the league in passing yards with 1784, has thrown 9 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. Kristiane Desautels leads the Thunder with 432 receiving yards, that's just four yards behind the league lead. Deasutels has caught three touchdowns which is also second in the PFC. RB Victor St. Pierre-Laviolette is number one in rush yards with 585 and is tied for first with 6 touchdowns scored. The Thunder have turned the ball over 15 times, second least in the league. 8 on interceptions, 4 on fumbles and 3 times on downs.

HILLTOPS OFFENCE - Saskatoon has scored a league high 227 points through six games on the season. QB Jared Andreychuk is 4th in passing yard with 1056, he has thrown 10 touchdowns and just 4 interceptions. Sam Mike leads the club with 315 receiving yards, 6th most in the league, and has caught two touchdowns. RB Logan Fischer is 5th in rushing yards with 443 and has scored 5 times. Saskatoon has turned the ball over 18 times this year, 8 on interceptions, 8 on fumbles and twice on downs.THUNDER DEFENCE - Regina has given up the third least points in the league through the first six games at 112. Marcus Hall is tied for 5th in tackles with 23 and has 5 assisted take downs. Polis Koko is tied for the league lead with three interceptions to go along with 15 tackles and a forced fumble. Matthew Williams is tied second with 3.5 sacks, he also has a fumble recovery and 8 tackles on the year. The Thunder have forced a league low 10 turnovers, 4 on interceptions, 1 fumble recovery and 5 on downs.HILLTOPS DEFENCE - Saskatoon has given up the second least points so far this year at 105. Cameron Schnitzler is second in the league with 31 tackles, he also has a sack and two forced fumbles. Five defenders have an interception each this year, Logan Bitz, Logan Kelsey-Stern, Ben Solie, Spencer Anderson and James Vause. Blake Herman meanwhile leads the PFC with four sacks and has a fumble recovery and 15 tackles. The Hilltops have forced 22 turnovers on the year, 5 on interceptions, 8 fumble recoveries and 9 on downs.

THUNDER SPECIAL TEAMS - Kristiane Desautels leads the PFC in punt return yards with 264 and also has 67 on kickoff returns. Tyler Haubrich leads the team with 178 yards on kickoff returns, that's 4th best in the league. Quinten Ruckaber has punted 15 times for a 37.6 yard average, the 4th best in the league. Ruckaber has yet to attempt a field goal since replacing the injured Kris Calcutt but has made all 6 extra point attempts.

HILLTOPS SPECIAL TEAMS - Josh Ewanchyna leads the team with 97 yards on punt returns, Adam Machart has 94 and Liam Murphy 87. Murphy also leads the team with 90 yards in kickoff returns. Nikolas Hunchak has punted 21 times for a 37.1 yard average, 5th best, while James Vause has made 6 of 8 field goals attempted.